The invention relates to a heating and/or air-conditioning system for a vehicle, especially for an automobile, with a blower housing preferably containing an evaporator, and with a distributor housing containing a heating body, said housings being located in the vicinity of an instrument panel.
Heating and/or air-conditioning systems are usually installed in vehicles in front of and below the instrument panel. For this reason, they can be accessed only with difficulty following initial installation for retrofitting with an evaporator or for replacing components, especially the heating body and evaporator. Extensive disassembly is required when such work is necessary. Usually, a mixing chamber is also located inside the instrument panel behind the distributor housing, from which chamber lines run to center nozzles, side nozzles, floor nozzles, and defroster nozzles as well as to lines that extend to the back of the vehicle.
It is known from European Patent Document EP-B 566 474 to mount a columnar mixing housing in the vehicle interior in front of a simplified, strip-shaped instrument panel. The distributor housing and the blower housing in this design are also located in front of and below the instrument panel so that heating bodies and evaporators are likewise accessible only with difficulty.
A goal of the invention is to design a heating and/or air-conditioning system of the species recited at the outset in such fashion that accessibility to the individual elements of this heating and/or air-conditioning system is improved, so that the disassembly work required for replacement or retrofitting with an evaporator is considerably reduced.
This goal is achieved by the distributor housing being separable from the blower housing in the direction of the vehicle interior and by providing that the distributor housing has a front end in the direction of the vehicle interior that fills a recess in the instrument panel provided for removal of the distributor housing.
Thus the invention provides that the front end of the distributor housing replaces the part of the instrument panel formed by the recess and projects slightly into the contour of the remaining part of the instrument panel. The distributor housing is thus accessible without disassembling the instrument panel and can be removed into the vehicle interior in a simple fashion after loosening the connection to the blower housing and loosening the connections to the heating body. The elements accommodated in the distributor housing are then easily accessible. The blower housing as well, after removal of the distributor housing, is readily accessible so that for example the evaporator located in the blower housing can be replaced. It is also possible to retrofit an evaporator in the blower housing, so that a heating system can be retrofitted to form an air-conditioning system.
In advantageous embodiments of the invention, provision is made for the front end to consist of elements molded on the distributor housing. As a result, the front end can be manufactured in simple fashion together with the distributor housing, especially as injection-molded parts.
In certain preferred embodiments of the invention, provision is made for the front end to be designed as an air-mixing device. This air-mixing device, which contains connections to the air nozzles and mixing flaps or the like that lead to the vehicle interior is thus integrated into the distributor housing and the front end. It is especially advantageous in this connection for the front end to be provided with air outlet stubs to which the center nozzles can be connected directly, which are then integrated into the front end.
Provision is made in preferred embodiments of the invention such that the front end is provided with at least one receptacle for an instrument or for operating elements. Thus the front end can serve as a holder for one or more instruments and especially for the operating elements of the heating and/or air-conditioning system, so that no special mounts for these parts need be provided in the instrument panel.
Provision is made in preferred embodiments of the invention such that the front end is covered by a surround that covers the gaps between the recess in the instrument panel and the front end of the distributor housing. This surround can be adapted in simple fashion to the design and/or color of the instrument panel so that a uniform appearance can be achieved in the vicinity of the instrument panel.
Provision is made in an advantageous improvement such that the surround is designed as a center console. Then the surround has a technical function as well as a decorative function.
Provision is made in preferred embodiments of the invention such that the front end is provided with electrical sockets to which the plugs of an instrument or an operating element can be connected. As a result the installation or removal of instruments, for example a radio or a navigation system or the like, can be accomplished in simple fashion. In an equally simple fashion, operating elements can be installed and removed, especially the operating elements for the heating and/or air-conditioning system.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.